Delhi Capitals players, who were part of the Indian squad for the Test series against England, have begun training for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw and Umesh Yadav all took part in their first nets session on Friday evening following the completion of quarantine. Delhi Capitals will take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on September 22 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals' fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who picked up 22 wickets in 16 matches in his first-ever IPL season in 2020 has said it will be important to take it match by match in the second half of the cash-rich league.
"It was here where things started to happen for me in the IPL, but I am looking to take it match by match this season. There's a lot coming up, even after the IPL. We have to try and remember what we did here the last time we were here and try and implement that again. Hopefully, we can repeat what we did in the UAE the last time we were here," said the 27-year-old.
The fast bowler added that the second half of the IPL 2021 season will be completely different from the first half of the season.
"What worked at one place is not going to work at another place so we have to take it game by game. The upcoming games in the UAE are going to be completely different from the games we had earlier in the season. Maybe teams will field different strategies in the second half of the tournament. We have to be switched on now and just be ready," he said.
Nortje expressed that playing the IPL before the T20 World Cup in the UAE is certainly a big advantage for all T20I players.
IPL 2021 resumes with Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.